The Arms of Howard Parsons

The Arms of Howard Parsons were used as a stand-in for those of Peter Macpherson in Urban Mermaid. In the story, the arms are depicted as Scottish Arms which means the escrol appears above the crest rather than below the shield.

The arms are Registration # 2001 with The American College of Heraldry.

 Blason

Copyright 2000 – 2016 by      Howard T. Parsons, Jr.

The blason for these arms is as follows:

Azure, a canoe fesswise Or, between in chief a thistle also Or and in base barry wavy of six Or and Azure. Above the shield is plase a Helment with a Mantling Azure, doubled Or, and on a Wreath Or and Azure is set for Crest, a wildcat sejant erect guardiant, Or, holding in the forepaws a crescent Argent, and in an Escrol below the Shield this Motto: “I Will Endeavour So To Do”.

The arms were designed, in consultation with myself, by the late Dr. David Pittman Johnson and rendered by the eminent heraldic artist, Andrew Stewart Jamison.

A Brief Explanation

The Thistle is a reference to my Scots heritage and all the time I spend in a kilt for the Grants & Macphersons. The canoe pertains to both my Cherokee ancestry and one of my favourite pass-times — One that I don’t do enough of.  The wavy bars pertain to my love of hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA and my work maintaining hiking trails in the Shenandoah National Park. The thistle and canoe together are an abstract representation of the lymphad on the arms of Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, Chief of Clan Macpherson. This is my way of saying “Hi cousins!”.  The entire shield can also be considered a subtle reference to the arms of Scarborough, England where part of my mother’s family comes from.

As for the Crest itself, the wildcat comes from the Macpherson arms and the crescent refers to my membership in the Shriners. Interestingly, there was a Macpherson living in England in the 1800’s who had the paws of a wildcat holding a crescent.

The motto comes from the charge given to graduates in the commencement ceremonies at North Carolina Wesleyan College.

As for the colours – Blue & Gold are the colours for my High School (Hopewell High School – Class of 1970), North Carolina Wesleyan College (Class of 1974) AND the Macpherson livery.

Registering Arms In The United States

If you’re interested in arms of your own or just want to learn more about Herladry in general, contact the American College of Heraldry at http://www.americancollegeofheraldry.org and learn what it takes to get your own.

 

 

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